Managing safety on school trips
Safety on school trips
Keeping your students safe is at the heart of everything we do. From the moment you start planning to the moment you return home, our Safety Management System is working quietly in the background to make sure your trip runs smoothly and with complete peace of mind.
Our Safety Management System
Esto is an Assured Member of the School Travel Forum (STF) – a group of leading school tour providers who set the bar for safety in educational travel.
Being an STF member means we’re independently audited every year against a rigorous Code of Practice and Safety Management Standards. These match the recommendations of the Department for Education and the Scottish Executive, so you can be confident your trip meets national expectations for safe school travel.
In real terms, it means we:
- Understand and take care of the specific needs of educational travel
- Have a robust Safety Management System built for travelling with young people
- Offer fair terms and conditions, and the best financial protection
STF membership is also the awarding body for the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Quality Badge – the national benchmark for high‑quality, safely managed learning experiences. The Outdoor Education Advisors Panel (OEAP) endorses the badge and encourages Local Authorities to recommend accredited providers, which means less extra paperwork for you.
In short: booking with Esto helps you meet your due diligence and keeps the admin light.
- Download our Safety Management System document
- Download our School Travel Forum Certificate of Compliance and Classroom Quality Badge Certificate
Travel insurance designed for schools
Travel insurance is included as standard on Esto tours (unless otherwise stated). Our policy has been created specifically for school and college groups, with cover that reflects the real activities and needs of educational travel.
If you’d prefer to arrange your own insurance, that’s absolutely fine – just let us know so we can remove our policy from your tour price. We simply ask that you check the cover carefully with your whole group in mind and share your insurer details with us.
As with any insurance, we recommend reading the policy documents and sharing them with parents and staff so everyone knows exactly what’s covered.
Esto is an appointed representative of David Roberts & Partners (Insurance Brokers) Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (register number 143840). Registered Office: Discovery House, Brooklands Way, Whitehills Business Park, Blackpool, Lancashire FY4 5LW. Registered in England and Wales No: 01839286.
24-hour emergency support
Our support doesn’t stop once you’ve booked – or even once you’ve departed. If something unexpected happens while you’re away, our team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with full access to your tour details so we can help quickly and calmly.
Most groups never need us. But when they do, we’re there – and schools often tell us how much that reassurance meant.
What teachers say
“The response and help we received from Paul when we had an emergency was above and beyond.” The Cotswold School
“We always find you so helpful. When we were stuck for a coach at 4am (which we hadn’t booked with Esto) you still did everything they could to try and help us! Always fantastic!” Waddesdon C of E School
“A huge thank you. A pupil lost their passport. You were all extremely helpful organising another flight. It was very reassuring.” Reading Blue Coat School
“Very satisfied by the information and the organisation provided by Esto. Very well organised and varied activities. Our tour organiser was extremely helpful and reliable when one of our students lost his passport. He made himself available at all time and kept in touch regularly until the problem was ‘solved’ which was barely a few hours before flying back home.” St Kentigerns RC Academy
“Under very trying circumstances, you recovered our trip from a last minute flight cancellation and worked miracles to ensure our tour went ahead.” The Priory Ruskin Academy (The Priory Federation of Academies)
